The Assassination of Orlando Letelier and Ronnie Moffitt

On September 21st, 1976, Orlando Letelier and his assistant Ronnie Moffitt were assassinated.

By
Brandon Calton

Introduction

Orlando Letelier was a former Chilean Ambassador to the United States under President Salvador Allende. Under the Pinochet regime, Letelier was imprisoned alongside thousands of other Chileans. After being released from prison, he was expelled from Chile and moved to Washington D.C. in 1975. While in Washington D.C, he served as the Director of the Institute for Policy Studies prior to his assassination.[1]

On September 21st, 1976, Letelier and his assistant were assassinated. The following narrative will provide a summary of the assassination, as well as provide summaries of additional documents which further explain the events surrounding the assassination.

Summary of the Assassination

Caption

Former Chilean Ambassador to the United States under President Salvador Allende.

On September 21st, 1976, around 9:35AM, a bomb detonated from under Letelier’s car.[2] A driver that was nearby described the impact of the blast by stating,

I saw an automobile actually coming down out of the air."

Upon falling from the air, the wreck came to a halt in front the Romanian Embassy, with the windows blown out and the floor panel missing. Police arrived at the scene and found blood and debris covering the pavement. Laying on the pavement was Letelier. He had been driving to work in D.C along with his co-worker Ronni Moffitt and her husband. Letelier died within minutes of the explosion. Ronni died less than an hour later at the hospital, when a piece of shrapnel pierced her throat. Michael was able to escape the blast.[3]

Following the assassination, a lengthy investigation began. Throughout the course of the investigation, evidence uncovered pointed to the involvement of the Chilean secret police, DINA, as well as the highest levels of the military regime, including President Pinochet. Surprisingly, the assassination occurred just ten days after Pinochet stripped Letelier of his citizenship. It was determined that his citizenship was removed because he was considered a staunch supporter of Allende. Furthermore, there were extensive questions regarding human rights and the U.S. foreign policy, given U.S. support of the Pinochet Regime. The assassination of Letelier and Moffitt furthered already tense relations between the United States and Chile.[4]The assassination of Letelier and Moffitt sparked many human rights protests.[5] By 1979, ongoing conflicts over Letelier’s assassination reached an all-time high after the Chilean Supreme Court refused to extradite three officials implicated in the assassination.[6] While President Carter held a tough stance against the Pinochet regime, the tone changed under Reagan. President Reagan lifted sanctions on Chile within a month of taking office.[7]

Throughout the course of the Letelier investigation, there were multiple suspects uncovered. One of the suspects, Michael Townley, shall be discussed in the document summaries provided below. However, many people feel that justice was not served. While many of the suspects went to trial, few faced consequences.

While the narrative above is a brief summary of the assassination and the events that followed, the documents below will provide more detailed information that is less widely known.

Background on the Historical Documents

The following documents shed light on the Letelier Assassination. While there is a plethora of newspaper coverage and scholarly articles regarding the assassination itself, there is less information on the investigations that followed. Much information remains classified and has not been released to the public. The information that has been declassified, does not always shed enough light on the assassination. The majority of documents examined below are from the Institute for Policy Studies archive at the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, WI). The archive contains a wealth of documents which reveal an intimate portrait of the assassination and subsequent investigations. We have chosen a select few to highlight, but encourage our readers to explore the full collection in person at the WHS. We would like to thank Dr. Jessica Kirstein, who helped collect and select these document through her research with the IPS collection. Under normal circumstances, these documents would not be available online, however, we have acquired special permission from the Wisconsin Historical Society to share this small selection of documents. WHS and IPS retain the rights to these documents, and therefore reproduction of the documents is prohibited without their permission.

Documents

1. LM INTERIM REPORT, 1976: "The Leaks," April 6, 1977, 6pp.

This document discusses multiple aspects surrounding the Letelier Assassination and comes directly from the Institute for Policy Studies collection at the WHS. (See footnotes below for exact citation information).

According to this information, after the assassination, agents from the FBI entered and sealed off Letelier’s offices at the Institute for Policy Studies and at his home in Maryland. For a total of six hours, the FBI had free access to all of Letelier’s files. Furthermore, Letelier’s daughter, Isabel, was denied access to her home, and she witnessed multiple agents leaving her home. The reason given for stopping her was that the house needed to be searched and evacuated for bombs. A similar scene occurred in the office. The police denied workers access to the office until a bomb search was completed.[8]

There was also speculation on the movement of Letelier’s briefcase. According to this document, he carried the briefcase with him at all times. Surprisingly, after the explosion, the briefcase was found intact. D.C. police took possession of the briefcase as potential evidence. The briefcase contained 45 different items, ranging from letters to calendars and a bottle of aspirin. However, many of the papers in the briefcase were over a year old, and according to Letelier’s coworkers, he would not have kept those in there. Furthermore, when filled, the briefcase is heavy and would not be one to carry around all the time.[9] It is quite suspicious that the content within Letelier’s briefcase increased drastically in the days before the assassination, and that there was information dating back to over a year. It was also determined that the information, such as a dangerous letter, could have proven detrimental to Letelier if it was discovered. From this information, it is entirely possible that these documents were the key to why Letelier was assassinated, and that the information was purposely placed in the briefcase to be leaked to the press.

This document from the IPS archive contains information and updates on the Letelier Assassination. [10]

Following the assassination of Letelier, the Institute for Policy Studies carried on an investigation into the murder, separate from the one being conducted by the Justice Department. The investigators pursued sources and leads throughout the world and cooperated with the FBI and the U.S Attorney. However, the Institute was told little by these departments.[11] It was determined through a series of leaks that people from within the United States government were attempting to manipulate the facts of the assassination, as well as, provided misinformation to the police and public. The contents of Letelier’s briefcase were copied and leaked to a select number of the press.

Following sixteen months of investigation, the Institute for Policy Studies concluded that Pinochet ordered the murder of Letelier. The Institute determined multiple causes for Letelier to be assassinated. This begins with Letelier being arrested in 1973, on the day of the coup. He spent a year in multiple concentration camps and was later exiled from Chile. However, considering Letelier was Minister of Defense, he still had access to files on the military regime. After he was released in 1974, he worked in Venezuela and then moved to the United States. This is where he began to work at the Institute for Policy Studies and then Director of the Transnational Institute. He then began to assume a role in the Chilean resistance.[12] Since he was experienced in Chilean history, he was placed into a leadership role in the opposition. During the years between his exile and his death, he testified in front of multiple international organizations and agencies about the crimes of the military junta. Therefore, it could be seen that by keeping Letelier alive, the Pinochet dictatorship could be threatened.[13] Further proof can be seen when Pinochet stripped Letelier of his citizenship in June 1976. It is also reasonable to consider that Pinochet was involved, since it is well known that he was involved the murder of General Prats and attempted murder of Leighton. It was also confirmed through statements made by military officials and a letter from someone close to Letelier, that Pinochet specified that the assassination occurs in Washington D.C.[14]

This document from the IPS collection pertains to the testimony of Michael Townley, one of the suspects, who was focused on most.[16]

On May 8, 1978, Michael Townley provided his testimony to a grand jury. During this trial, Townley pled guilty to one count conspiracy to murder a foreign official, which the government agreed to accept. As well, Townley and the United States agreed that the sentence to be imposed would be ten years with the parole date to be three years and four months after beginning the sentence.[17] Moreover, the United States agreed to provide safety and protection for Townley and his family, while they were in the United States. Townley also agreed to provide complete and truthful information concerning the assassination of Letelier and Moffitt. He also agreed to provide truthful information with regard to any investigation within the United States. Townley would also not be prosecuted for any further crimes after this trial. [18]

Townley testified that he was given orders to proceed to the United States to meet with Lieutenant Fernandez, and then to meet with the Cuban group that they were working with and to turn the mission over to the appropriate authorities to eliminate Orlando Letelier. Townley stated he was to communicate the mission and depart from the United States before the assassination was carried out.[19] Townley admits that there was no one else in the country of Chile who could authorize the execution of someone within another country other than Colonel Manuel Contreras, the head of DINA.[20] On September 8, 1976, Townley was provided information on where Letelier lived.[21] Closer to the day of the assassination, Townley and two others followed Letelier to work. After the bomb was built, they drove out to Letelier’s house and Townley was informed he was to place the bomb on the car. This order was received from DINA. The bomb was attached to Letelier’s car on September 19, two days before the assassination. The bomb was placed directly under the driver’s seat, using friction tape purchased at the local Sears. Townley then had to uncover the safety switch, which he covered up.[22] Townley also confessed that it was only Letelier that was supposed to have been killed. There was no indication that Moffitt was to be present at the time the bomb went off. [23] After the assassination, Townley returned to Chile.

This document from the IPS archive features evidence by a police officer that responded to the assassination and was in the vicinity when it occurred.[24]

Officer Charles Kuzmovich was traveling with his partner, approximately twenty yards from Sheridan Circle. Around 9:30AM, the officer heard what sounded like an explosion. Upon entering the circle, the officer looked to his left and noticed a vehicle rammed against another. The vehicle was destroyed and smoking and appeared as if it was bombed. The officer ran to the vehicle and found a man inside. The officer tried to free the man from the vehicle but was not successful. He later attempted to help a woman that was bleeding from the mouth, when her pulse stopped.[25]

6. IPS Involvement: "Messages from Around the World Protest the Murder of Letelier and Moffitt," 3pp and "Action on the Letelier-Moffitt Assassinations," 2pp.

The assassination of Letelier and Moffitt sparked both outrage and sympathy from individuals and organizations all over the world. Many of the messages called for an intensive investigation into the assassination. To the right is a screenshot of some of the messages that were received.[26]

Caption

Screenshot from the document.

Citation

Messages from People and Organizations around the world on the assassination, 1977, Box 38, Folder 42, MSS 1057, Letelier-Moffitt Institute for Policy Studies Involvement, Institute for Policy Studies, Wisconsin Historical Society, 7.

The document also shares a notion that action must occur. It notes that without public pressure, the assassinations will go unsolved and unpunished. The document provides goals of a campaign to try and solve the assassinations (See the screenshot to the left).[27]

7. CIA, "Pinochet's Role in the Letelier Assassination and Subsequent Coverup," May 1987. 6pp. (From National Security Archive FOIA)

This is the one document which does not come from the IPS collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Instead it is a CIA document released through the tireless FOIA work of National Security Archives Chile Documentation Project Director Peter Kornbluh.

This document provides evidence that Pinochet ordered his intelligence chief to carry out the murder. It also makes clear that when the subsequent investigation led by US authorities established that senior Chilean junta officials were involved, Pinochet attempted to stonewall the case to hide his involvement. Pinochet then sought new ways to contain his involvement and protect his hold on the presidency.[28]

Senior Chilean officials planned the assassination of Letelier and caused an uproar in Chile, reviving speculation that Pinochet ordered the killing. In the statement to US Court, Fernandez claimed that Pinochet tried to cover up the extent of which the Chilean government was involved. Furthermore, no credible knowledge of Pinochet’s role became available until after 1978, when the US investigation was nearing its completion.[29] In April 1978, Contreras told a confidant that DINA was responsible for the assassination of Letelier and authorized the killing on direct orders from Pinochet. Orozco stated that Pinochet learned Contreras had given a briefcase with sensitive documents to a close friend, which placed the assassination on Pinochet, with instructions to make them public if something happened to Contreras. In August 1978, Pinochet met with the Chilean Supreme Court to lessen chances that the Court might find legal cause for extradition of officers implicated in the killing.

Heath Hoeffel, Paul and Peter Kornbluh. "The War at Home: Chile’s Legacy in the United States." NACLA Report on the Americas 17, no. 5 (1983): 27-41. doi:10.1080/10714839.1983.11723570. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714839.1983.11723570.